The Innkeeper's Story
by Lora Kael
Summary: Set at the end of The Tournament at Gorlan we revisit someone who helped the Rangers at a time when they needed it the most, and who could have caused the story to end quite differently.


**Title: An innkeeper's story**

Set after The Tournament at Gorlan. It tells the story of how the Rangers work to restore Prince Duncan's reputation after Morgarath and Tiller have worked to destroy it, but it is also a tale of friendship.

* * *

It was a warm and light evening and The Yellow Parrot was full of people enjoying a couple of hours of relaxing with friends and family before turning in and going to bed so they would be ready for another day's work.

The innkeeper smiled to himself as he served yet another tankard of ale. This would be a good evening and he doubted it would get any better than this. It was too late for more dinner guests unless a late arrival came to the village from outside.

Just as he had the thought the door to the inn opened and a stranger walked in, only stopping briefly in the doorway to look around the mostly filled room. Sherrin took in the stranger with a look; he had a longbow slung across his shoulders and the top of a quiver of arrows could be seen over his shoulder and the motled grey-green cloak he wore. Ranger, he thought. Haven't seen one of those in a while.

The room grew momentarily quiet as they regarded the Ranger and the conversations were more hushed as he walked up to the bar. It was clear everybody was curious as to why the Ranger was here and whether they might hear something interesting.

The Ranger stopped in front of the bar and Sherrin, who nodded a greeting.

"Good evening, Ranger," he said politely.

"Good evening, Sherrin," the Ranger replied, catching him by surprise. The mumbling from the room told him they had also noticed that the Ranger knew his name.

Sherrin frowned slightly. There was something familiar about that voice...

"Have we met before? You sound familiar."

The Ranger lifted his hands up to his hood and pushed it back as he answered. "It's only been a couple of months; I am surprised you would forget me so quickly. In particular when you also had the pleasure of having one of Morgarath's soldiers visit the same night."

"Halt!" Sherrin exclaimed in surprise. "So I was right; you were the Rangers that brute was looking for."

Halt smiled slightly. "Of course. But we weren't going to tell him that." Officially Halt wasn't a Ranger, at least not yet, and he certainly hadn't been at that time, but Crowley had told him to simply introduce himself as a Ranger and say yes if anyone asked if he was one. So that was what he did. Still, Halt looked forward to it becoming official and getting his silver oakleaf. Crowley had promised they would look at the matter once he returned to Castle Araluen after this mission.

Sherrin smiled in response and the conversation got a bit more relaxed as everybody realised their innkeeper wasn't in trouble. It was still more quiet though as everybody was also trying to hear what Halt might have to say.

"So, Ranger Halt, what brings you here? I trust you want a tankard of ale?"

"Yes, please," Halt replied. "I trust it's as good as I remember."

"See for yourself," Sherrin replied and placed a tankard in front of him.

Halt sipped it and nodded. "The standard hasn't slipped. As for what brings me here, that is you."

Sherrin blinked in surprise. "Me?"

Halt nodded. "You may remember that you told us Prince Duncan had gone rogue last me and my partner were here?"

Sherrin nodded. The room had gone quieter again, everybody listening in.

"Well, we investigated the matter and thought you would want to know that it was untrue."

"But the villages – "a nearby villager began.

Halt turned slightly towards the speaker. "Oh, the attacks and bandits occupying the villages were real enough," Halt said. "It just wasn't Prince Duncan, who was behind it. In fact he had nothing to do with any of it."

That was met with stunned silence. Sherrin was the first to speak up again. "Then who?"

Halt faced him fully again. "An impostor, trying to smear Prince Duncan's name. We found him and his gang further north. They were wearing the prince's colours and emblem while raiding and provoking Scotti and Araluen villages alike.

"They were doing a good job of turning the people against their prince, and the impostor did have a physical resemblance to Prince Duncan."

Sherrin nodded again, taking it all in. "Did you catch him? And why did he pretend to be the prince?"

Halt nodded. "Yes, we got him. As to why, well, it wasn't _his_ plan, he was just being paid to terrorise the people and raid the Scotti, just like Morgarath's soldiers."

Sherrin blinked. "Morgarath? He got something to do with this?"

"He got everything to do with this. It was all a part of his plan to take over. I trust you have heard about the tournament and that he is now holed up in Castle Gorlan?"

"Well, I heard some rumours, but didn't know which to believe. One was wilder than the next."

Halt nodded his understanding. People did tend to exaggerate when telling about events.

"To make a long story short, Morgarath has been trying to take over the country for years, by slowly gaining more and more influence and power, and this was his end game. King Oswald is getting old, so Morgarath made sure to be very helpful to gain the King's confidence, and then got Prince Duncan posted to another fief, so he couldn't talk with the King. Then he arranged for an impostor to play Prince Duncan, while the real prince was kept captive by one of Morgarath's allies.

"At the same time Morgarath has been working to weaken the Ranger Corps, because he knew we could and would pose a threat to him when he did go against the crown. He has been making up fake charges against Rangers for years to get rid of us." Halt smiled tightly. "He didn't fully succeed."

Sherrin smiled, too, and so did several in the room. People might be vary of Rangers, but they were still respected and no one here liked Morgarath and his brutish soldiers.

"You stood up to him, didn't you? You stood up to Morgarath." Sherrin had noticed how Halt didn't call Morgarath lord and didn't feel inclined to do so himself either.

"Of course we did. We had to gather the other Rangers, and then capture the impostor and free the real Prince Duncan, but we did manage it. And of course, Morgarath held King Oswald prisoner, too, at Castle Gorlan, so we had to free him as well."

That caused a ripple of murmured conversation around the room.

"Morgarath had the King?!"

"The King was being held prisoner?"

Halt turned towards the room and nodded. "Yes. There was an assassination attempt at Castle Araluen, which was most probably also the workings of Morgarath. He used that to convince the King to come to Gorlan for a while and then locked him up in a tower. He wanted the King to sign a document renouncing and disinheriting Prince Duncan and making himself the heir to the throne."

Scandalised outbreaks was heard around the room. The mere thought of Morgarath on the throne was despicable to the villagers. Halt was pleased to see and hear their reactions to the news. The mission of clearing Duncan's name and spreading the news of Morgarath's treachery was going well.

He waited until the room quieted down again before continuing. "He was going to use the tournament to announce himself heir to the throne and would probably have killed the King and prince shortly thereafter if we hadn't caught wind of his plans and stopped him."

Halt turned back to the bar and took a sip of his ale, letting the suspension grow. He knew he had their rapt attention. He addressed Sherrin next, but spoke in a voice that could be clearly heard by everyone.

"Since you were the one who first alerted us to the impostor we thought you should not only know the truth, but also deserved a reward for your help."

Sherrin put up his hands in front of him and shook his head. "No, no. No reward necessary. I'm happy to help the Rangers. Knowing I was of help is enough."

Halt nodded his understanding. "Even so, we want to thank you for what you have done. You turned away Morgarath's soldier and gave us valuable information that lead us to stop and capture the impostor terrorising villages, free Prince Duncan, free the King, and stop Morgarath's plans." Halt looked him into the eyes. "You have our gratitude." Then he bowed his head slightly in respectful acknowledgement of Sherrin's character and contribution to saving the country from Morgarath.

Sherrin was stunned. So was the rest of the room. Nobody was used to seeing a Ranger bow for anyone, and they all knew they only bowed to the King himself.

Sherrin shook himself out of the stupor. Halt was acknowledging his loyalty and contribution, but he knew it was the Rangers, who had done the true work and saved the country. Sherrin returned the head bow.

"Thank you, Rangers. You have saved our country and villages from a bunch of bandits and traitors." Sherrin smiled warmly at Halt. He definitely liked the Ranger and hoped he would stay the night at his inn.

One villager started clapping, shouting "Well said!" and others quickly joined in. The noise quickly grew deafening and Halt was surprised by their reaction. He hadn't expected anything like this when he was sent on this mission of truth, but here he was being applauded by a room full of farmers and town folk. He just nodded once in acknowledgement to the room at large, then turned back to Sherrin.

"Well, since you now know the truth, perhaps I could get a bowl of dinner to go with my ale?"

Sherrin laughed mildly. "Sure, I'll have Millie serve you in a moment. Go find yourself a table."

Halt nodded his thanks, took his ale, and went to the darkest corner of the room where a table was still unoccupied, still surprised and unused to the smiles people sent his way as he passed by.

Sherrin shook his head slightly in wonder as he set Millie about the task of serving food. Those Rangers really were something, he mused.

§ **  
**

Halt stayed in his corner as the room slowly emptied. It was clear that some people were hanging around hoping to hear more interesting news from the Ranger, but as it became clear that Halt had said what he came to say people quickly started to fill out, needing to get to bed before a hard day's work started in the morning.

When the room was mostly empty Halt went up to the bar again and asked Sherrin for the annex and early breakfast. Sherrin promised to have it ready by sunrise. Halt thanked him and went to the stable to check on Abelard, before entering the annex. He had one last task before he could sleep himself, but it wouldn't take long.

§ **  
**

The next morning Halt enjoyed the porridge being served with a large dollop of honey as well as the warm coffee with an equal amount of honey in it. Sherrin wasn't quiet sure why the Ranger put honey in his coffee, but decided he was going to try it himself later and see if he could find out.

"Well, I need to get back on the road, but thank you for everything."

Sherrin shook his head. "No, thank you, Ranger Halt. You will be welcome here any time, as will any Ranger like yourself."

Halt nodded his understanding. He placed some coins on the bar. "I trust this is enough?"

"It is more than enough. I think last night will be the talk of the village for some time."

Halt shrugged. "As long as you speak the truth about it, and tell others about the impostor and Morgarath, I will be happy."

Sherrin nodded and reached behind the bar for the package he had prepared. "Here. I took the liberty of preparing some food for your journey, wherever you are going. I suppose you don't always have time for making food yourself."

Halt smiled. "No, not always. Thank you for the food, both this time and the last time." He shook hands with Sherrin.

Sherrin nodded. He knew Halt was about to leave, but there was something that had been nagging him since last night. In fact it had been nagging him for the past couple of months.

"Ranger Halt, a question if you don't mind."

"Go on."

"Well, when you were here last you were travelling with another young man and you referred to him as your partner last night."

Halt nodded.

"I trust he is also a Ranger?"

Halt nodded again. "Yes. Has been longer than me, in fact." Well, that doesn't take much since I'm not actually a Ranger yet, Halt thought to himself.

Sherrin nodded a couple of times. "Well, I was wondering what his name is. Because I doubt he gave his real name to that soldier of Morgarath's."

"True," Halt said. "There's no reason for you not to know; his name is Crowley."

"Crowley," Sherrin repeated. "Thanks. I'll remember that." Then another thought struck him. "Wait, if he's your partner, then were is he now?"

"Busy at Castle Araluen. We did just deal with an attempt at taking over the country and the Corps by Morgarath, so he has a lot of things to sort through."

Sherrin nodded, but frowned. "But why him and not both of you?"

Halt smiled slightly at him as he picked up the package Sherrin had prepared. "Because I'm not foolish enough to get caught up in that sort of paper work. Besides it's his job; he's the Commandant. I'm not."

Halt nodded his farewell and Sherrin nodded mechanically and just stared at him as he left the inn. He wasn't sure if he was most stupefied by the Ranger's comment on the foolishness of being the Commandant or by the news that the other young man had such a position.

Finally he shook himself out of it. He had heard the Ranger horse's hoofbeats as they left, and he needed to get the annex cleaned. He might as well get it done right now, while things were slow.

He told his morning maid to go air out and sweep the annex, sure the Ranger had left it in good condition. She left the room, but returned only a couple of minutes later looking perplexed.

"What?" he asked.

"Um, the floor is already swept and the windows were open, but..."

"Yes?" he prompted.

"Well, I found this on the table." She placed a small item on the bar, wrapped in a piece of green cloth.

Sherrin looked at it curiously. He somehow doubted the Ranger had forgotten something, so he guessed that whatever it was he had left it behind on purpose. He picked it up and unwrapped the item.

A wooden block was inside, about the size of his hand. One side had a carving of a leaf. An oakleaf, he realised, the symbol of the Rangers.

He turned it over and saw the smooth backside. No, not completely smooth. Two words were carved into it: 'For Sherrin'. He felt a prickling sensation in his eyes as he regarded the gift left behind. A symbol of friendship with the Rangers. He realised this was better than any reward Halt might have given him, and knew it was one he would treasure.

"Go get a hammer and nail. I need to put this up." He looked up at the wall behind the bar. He knew just where to put it.


End file.
